Uniform No-Till Corn Emergence Takes A 365 Day Commitment

Your goal from harvest-time to the day you no-till the next crop is to create an environment where the entire crop can emerge at one time.

Planting depth is no place to get creative if you want to achieve uniform stands and optimize no-till corn yields. Paul Jasa, University of Nebraska Extension ag engineer, believes uniformity should be every grower’s goal.

“Uniform seed placement depth produces uniform emergence,” Jasa says. “Uniform emergence can be critical — even more important than uniform spacing. Corn plants coming up at the same time are equally competitive for nutrients, water and sunlight. They have the same time to access those essentials and start well.

“When a plant develops ahead of its neighbor, it hurts yield dramatically. It’s going to vary somewhat from year to year, but a plant lagging behind those around it becomes a weed.

Achieving uniformity, Jasa asserts, requires a year-round commitment.

“I tell farmers they need to think uniformity each day of the year,” he says. “It’s not something you can address only at planting time since it can be affected by numerous factors.”

Uneven Depth Drags Yield

The yield payoff from uniform planting depth can be big. In an ongoing research trial, Jasa has compared the yield impact of uneven plant spacing versus uneven planting depth.

For spacing, treatments averaged the same population, based on 8 inches between plants. However, the inches between plants varied at 2-10-10-10; 6-6-6-14; 4-12-4-12; 4-8-8-12 and a uniform 8-8-8-8.

In 2007, the variations achieved from 85% to 99% of the yield produced by perfectly spaced 8-8-8-8-inch treatments. When planting depth varied from 1 to 3 inches and emergence was delayed 5…

Videos

Addressing a gathering of the Dodge County Farmers for Healthy Soil & Healthy Water, Russell Hedrick of Hickory, N.C., shares a presentation on the impacts on water quality that can be realized by utilizing regenerative ag practices, such as growing cover crops, reducing soil disturbance, maintaining soil armor, and integrating livestock.

Finding solutions to the problems farmers face is what inspired Harry and Etta Yetter to open a small machine shop in west central Illinois in the 1930s. Today, four generations later, Yetter continues the tradition of solving agricultural problems to meet the needs of producers all over the world.

Needham Ag understands the role of technology in making better use of limited resources within a specific environment by drawing on a wealth of global experience to overcome the challenges facing today's farmers, manufacturers and dealers.